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With rising tuition, college students are looking for ways to raise money to afford books, gas, and even food.

Hillsboro High School graduate Kayla Letterman, who takes classes from National American University online and in Wichita and will graduate in May with a degree in surgical technology, earns extra cash by donating plasma in Wichita.

“I didn’t start doing it until I needed gas money to drive to and from clinicals,” Letterman said.

First-time plasma donors can expect a two-hour process, according to Letterman.

“As soon as you complete the paperwork, it’s a similar process as to donating blood,” Letterman said. “A machine will separate the plasma from your blood, depending on your body size and how much you donate.”

The first time Letterman donated was fairly scary.

“But the staff there is amazing and very friendly,” she said.

Letterman thinks college students look for ways to bring in cash that are simple and don’t take time away from school work.

“Plus it’s easier to find a way to make a little bit of extra money than it is to ask mom and dad,” she said.

Hillsboro High School graduate Taytum Miller, a pre-med student at Butler Community College, makes her extra money by baby-sitting.

“I have a friend taking classes with children, and she asked me to baby-sit one time,” Miller said. “After that, I just mentioned (baby-sitting) to people who take courses there.”

Miller, who started baby-sitting in middle school, finds it easy after growing up around young children, and it does not jeopardize her school performance.

“Most of the time when I baby-sit for people while I’m in school, it’s in the evenings, so after the kids are fed and put to bed, the rest of the evening is mine to just work on school work” she said. “It makes it less challenging.”